Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Double Standard?

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon at first blocked Rep. Tammy Baldwin's domestic partner from traveling on a military plane with a congressional delegation on a trip to Europe but gave in after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intervened.

The Pentagon said it was merely following House rules, which do not define domestic partners as spouses. Pelosi's office countered that the Pentagon has its own rules about who can go on its planes.

Both sides agree that Defense Secretary Robert Gates reversed the decision to keep Azar off the plane after getting contacted by Pelosi, D-Calif.

I think the Pentagon made the right decision. I actually wish, however, that they would have prevented Rep. Baldwin's domestic partner from getting on that plane.

If the Pentagon would have kicked a Congresswoman's homosexual partner off a military airplane, a good portion of Congress would be outraged. And while Congressmen who support "don't ask, don't tell" may find it easy to tell gay people they'll never meet that they cannot serve in the military, it might hit home a little more when they have to tell a fellow Congresswoman that her partner cannot travel with her on routine business travel.

Even though both Democratic presidential candidates claim to oppose the policy, I don't believe they are sincere enough to pursue any real change if they get what they're really after in this campaign: being elected president. I hope I'm wrong and I'm just being overly cynical. But I think something like a personal conflict between people who have to work together every day (or, most days) would be a lot more effective in bringing about a change in the policy.

"Don't ask, don't tell" will eventually dissolve, and eventually sexually orientation will not affect military service. But the policy has already been around for over 15 years, so if it takes congressional infighting to get rid of it, so be it.